Bhubaneswar: The Odisha capital was shrouded in a thick layer of fog on Saturday, leading to near-zero visibility in parts of the city.
“In the Bhubaneswar region, visibility dropped to 0 metres amid extremely dense fog,” senior meteorologist Umasankar Das posted on X.
The visibility plummeted to as low as 50 meters early in the morning, particularly around 6.30 am, making safe aircraft operations challenging. This low runway visual range, far below the required minimum of around 550 metres, Caused significant delays for multiple flights departing from or arriving at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA).
Flights to destinations including Goa, Kolkata, Guwahati, Utkela, Jaipur, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Chennai faced delays ranging from 2 to 2.5 hours.
Authorities at BPIA have assured that arrangements, such as refreshments, are in place for affected travellers, while urging caution amid the ongoing winter weather patterns. Passengers have been advised to check updated flight statuses through airline apps or websites to avoid inconvenience.
On Friday, two flights were cancelled at the city airport while 10 were delayed due to dense fog, which also affected train services. The BPIA director had then attributed the delay to cascading effect of flights reaching late from other airports due to fog.
Dense fog also disrupted normal life in the port city of Paradip this morning, impacting routine activities and transportation during the morning hours.
The foggy conditions have persisted over recent days, marking a continuation of weather-related challenges in the region. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued yellow and orange warnings for dense to very dense fog across several Odisha districts, with forecasts suggesting these conditions could linger till January 7 morning.
